In an open letter dated 14 October 2009, the Ole Wolff (Yantai) Trade Union (OWYTU) proclaimed the sad news that the union would be officially dissolved.
Union advisor Zhang Jun said the forthcoming union’s dissolution is mainly due to the fact that the Ole Wolff (Yantai) Electronics Company was de-registered in 2009 with the local government, and thus the Union Committee had to follow suit. Also, most of the union members have left the plant.
The following are the findings of surveys carried out in mid-2006 amongst workers from directly-owned Nokia and Flextronics factories in Guangdong and Jiangsu provinces. According to the survey results, these are not nightmare sweatshops, but they were found to be violating Chinese laws regarding social insurance, overtime hours and – most importantly – lacked democratic trade unions that can represent workers.
The KTS (Kong Tai Shoes) Longgang plant, a subsidiary of KTP Holding, is a listed company in Hong Kong with Taiwan ownership. 4,638 workers (4,119 women; 519 men)operate the original equipment manufacturing system producing shoes for fashion/sports giant, Reebok. The Longgang plant is a showcase factory established by local government and was one of the earliest settlers in the Longgang industrial zone. The enterprise union, called the KTS Longgang Union must be affiliated to the All China Federation of Trade Unions by law.
The Declaration of Philadelphia (1944) and subsequent International Labour Organisation (ILO) declarations recognised that availability of an "adequate level of social protection" is a basic right of all people.
Guangzhou municipal government has earmarked 60 million yuan1 over three years to entice students back to the city from overseas. Each returnee will be granted 100,000 yuan1 with which to 'start up or invest in special enterprises'. China Daily, 18 May 2000.